JPH05131716A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize a compact printer and improve the operability of operating buttons by a method wherein the operating buttons, which are used more frequently, are arranged in a front panel, while the operating buttons, which are used less frequently, are arranged inside doors. CONSTITUTION:In the printer concerned, a paper feed section 4, to which a printing paper 10 is fed, a paper delivery section 5, in which printed paper 10 is housed, and a ribbon cassette insertion section 6, into which a ribbon cassette 13 is inserted, are respectively arranged on the front panel 3 of a printer main body 2. Respective doors 20 and 21, by which the paper feed section 4 and the ribbon cassette insertion section 6 are covered and exposed, are openably and closably supported to the front panel 3. Further, operating buttons 7a, 7b, 8a and 8b, which are used more frequently, are respectively arranged on the left and right operating sections 7 and 8. At the same time, operating buttons 20a-20c and 21a, which are used less frequently, are respectively arranged inside the respective doors 20 and 21.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer such as a sublimation type thermal transfer type color video printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a sublimation type thermal transfer type color video printer capable of clearly printing a color image is known. This color video printer includes a paper feed unit for supplying print paper, a print unit for printing information such as video signals on the print paper, on the front panel side of the printer body.
From the viewpoint of operability, a paper discharge section for storing printed print sheets, a ribbon cassette insertion section for inserting a ribbon cassette, and the like are arranged on the front panel.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional printer, the ratio of each portion such as the paper feed portion and the paper ejection portion on the front panel side of the printer body is occupied by other electronic equipment such as an audio cassette recorder and a video recorder. Since the ratio (area) is considerably larger than that of a tape recorder (VTR), the operation keys, changeover switches, operation buttons such as the volume control, and the display are limited to the rest of the front panel other than the above parts. Inevitably, it was forced to place it in the area where it was placed, which constrained the design and arrangement of the mechanism, and also caused a decline in the operability of the device. Further, as the performance of the device is improved, the number of attached functions tends to increase, and this tendency is becoming stronger. Therefore, the present invention provides a printer in which an operation button can be arranged on a door that covers or exposes a paper feeding unit or the like to increase the degree of freedom in designing and also to make the printer main body compact. To do.

[0004]

In a printer, a printer body is provided with a paper feed unit for supplying print paper, a paper discharge unit for storing printed print paper, and a ribbon cassette insertion unit for inserting a ribbon cassette. A door that covers and exposes the above-described paper feed unit and the like is supported by the printer body so as to be openable and closable, and operation buttons are arranged on this door.

Also, on the front panel of the printer body,
In a printer in which a paper feed unit for supplying print paper, a paper discharge unit for storing printed print paper, and a ribbon cassette insertion unit for inserting a ribbon cassette are arranged,
A door that covers and exposes the paper feed section and the like is openably supported on the front panel, and an operation button that is not used frequently is arranged on this door, and an operation button that is used frequently is arranged on the front panel. is there.

[0006]

Since the operation button is arranged on the openable door that covers or exposes the paper feed section of the printer body, the degree of freedom in designing the printer is increased, and the size of the entire printer can be reduced.

Further, since the operation buttons that are frequently used are arranged on the front panel of the printer body, and the operation buttons that are rarely used are arranged inside the door that covers or exposes the sheet feeding portion, the operation buttons are erroneously operated. Etc. are prevented and the operability is improved.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2, reference numeral 1 is a sublimation type thermal transfer type color video printer. A front panel 3 is arranged on the front surface (front surface) of the printer body 2 of the printer 1. On the front panel 3 side of the printer main body 2, a paper feed unit 4 for feeding the print paper 10, a paper discharge unit 5 for storing the printed print paper 10, a ribbon cassette insertion unit 6 for inserting the ribbon cassette 13, and Left and right operation units 7 and 8 are arranged respectively, and a printing unit for printing information such as a video signal and a feeding / discharging mechanism for feeding / discharging the print paper 10 in the printer body 2. Further, a ribbon feeding mechanism (not shown) for feeding the ink ribbon in the ribbon cassette 13 is provided.

Further, a paper feed tray 11 for containing the print paper 10 is detachably housed in the paper feed section 4. The paper feed tray 11 is covered or exposed by a door 20 which is openably and closably supported on the front panel 3 via a pair of hinge portions 9, 9. The paper feed tray 11 is formed in a size capable of accommodating several tens of print papers 10, and the print papers 1 are printed during printing.
Normally, the door 20 is used so that 0 is not removed.
Is covered by. In addition, the paper discharge section 5
The printed print paper 10 is discharged and stored by a paper discharge mechanism (not shown), and can be directly taken out by hand.

Further, the ribbon cassette 13 is detachably accommodated in the ribbon cassette insertion portion 6. The ribbon cassette insertion portion 6 accommodating the ribbon cassette 13 is covered or exposed by a door 21 which is openably and closably supported by the front panel 3 via a pair of hinge portions (not shown). There is.

As described above, in the printer 1,
The front panel 3 occupies most of the area of the paper feed unit 4, the paper discharge unit 5, and the ribbon cassette insertion unit 6, and the areas of the left and right operation units 7 and 8 of the front panel 3 are relatively small. .. Therefore, a power-on / off switch (operation button) 7 which is frequently used is provided on the operation unit 7 on the left side of the front panel 3.
a, an input switching button (operation button) 7b, etc. are arranged respectively, and a print operation button (operation button) 8a, a memory operation button (operation button) 8b, which are frequently used, are provided in the operation section 8 on the right side of the front panel 3. Monitor display 8 on these
c and a memory mode display portion 8d are arranged respectively. Then, inside the door 20 on the side of the paper feed unit 4, there is an operation button (operation button) 20 with or without memo printing, which is used infrequently and is used for selecting whether or not to include an outside comment in a printed image.
a, a menu on / off button (operation button) 20b for operating the menu on / off for the menu selection method, an execution button (operation button) for executing the selected menu, and a cancel button (operation button) for canceling the selected menu 20c and the like are arranged respectively, and an image quality adjustment button (operation button) which is rarely used is provided inside the door 21 on the ribbon cassette storage section 6 side.
21a, a remaining amount display portion 21b indicating the remaining amount of the ink ribbon of the ribbon cassette 13, and the like are arranged.

According to the printer 1 of the above-described embodiment, a large number of operation buttons 20a to 20d are provided inside the openable doors 20 and 21 that cover and expose the paper feed section 4 and the ribbon cassette insertion section 6 of the printer body 2. Since 21a and 21a are respectively arranged, the size of the entire printer can be reduced. As a result, there is an effect that the degree of freedom in designing the design of the printer main body 2 and the arrangement of each mechanism is increased, and the degree of freedom is also increased in the arrangement of each operation button.

In addition, the operation buttons 7a, 7b, which are frequently used on the front panel 3 of the printer body 2, are frequently used.
8a and 8b are respectively arranged, and doors 20 for covering and exposing the paper feed unit 4 and the ribbon cassette insertion unit 6 are provided.
Since the operation buttons 20a to 20d and 21a which are less frequently used are arranged inside the front panel 21, the front panel 3
The left and right operation parts 7 and 8 are provided with the minimum necessary operation buttons to enable simple operation without erroneous operation. In addition, by opening the doors 20 and 21, advanced operation and The display is enabled, and the operability of each operation button is improved.

Further, keys suitable for the doors 20 and 21,
The display can be arranged. For example, the door 20 for the paper feed unit 4
A display portion for displaying the remaining amount of the print paper 10 when the door 20 is opened can be provided inside (the door 21 for the ribbon cassette insertion portion 6 has a ribbon when the door 21 is opened). A display unit 21 for displaying the remaining amount of the ink ribbon of the cassette 13 is arranged).

According to the above-mentioned embodiment, the door 20 covers only the sheet feeding section 4, but the door 20 covers the sheet feeding section 4.
Alternatively, the paper discharge unit 5 may be covered. Further, one sheet of door may cover the paper feed unit 4, the paper discharge unit 5, and the ribbon cassette insertion unit 6. Further, although the operation buttons and the like are provided inside the doors 20 and 21, the operation buttons and the display unit may be provided outside them. Furthermore, although the thermal transfer type printer has been described, it goes without saying that it can be applied to other types of printers such as a thermal paper type.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the operation button is arranged on the openable door that covers or exposes the paper feeding portion of the printer body, the degree of freedom in printer design is increased. In addition, the size of the entire printer can be reduced.

Further, since the operation buttons which are frequently used are arranged on the front panel of the printer main body and the operation buttons which are rarely used are arranged inside the door which covers or exposes the sheet feeding portion, the operation buttons are operated. It is possible to improve the sex.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a printer showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which each door provided on the front panel side of the printer is opened.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the inside of a paper feed unit door of the printer.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view of a front panel of the printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printer, 2 ... Printer main body, 3 ... Front panel, 4 ... Paper feed part, 5 ... Paper discharge part, 6 ... Ribbon cassette insertion part, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b ... Operation button, 10 ... Print paper, 13 … Ribbon cassettes, 20, 21… Doors, 20a ～
20d, 21a ... Operation buttons.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A printer in which a paper feed unit for supplying print paper, a paper discharge unit for storing printed print paper, and a ribbon cassette insertion unit for inserting a ribbon cassette are arranged in the printer body, respectively. A printer characterized in that a door that covers and exposes the paper feed section is supported so as to be openable and closable, and operation buttons are arranged on this door. 2. A printer in which a front panel of a printer main body is provided with a paper feed section for supplying print paper, a paper discharge section for storing printed print paper, and a ribbon cassette insertion section for inserting a ribbon cassette, respectively. The panel supports a door that covers and exposes the paper feed section, etc., so that it can be opened and closed, and an operation button that is not used frequently is placed on this door, and an operation button that is used frequently is placed on the front panel. And the printer.